LEADING UK CAR VALET COMPANY BUCKS RECESSION & EYES UP £5M EXPANSION PLAN!

LEADING UK CAR VALET COMPANY BUCKS RECESSION & EYES UP £5M EXPANSION PLAN! H20 FLAGSHIP OPERATION LAUNCHED AT £1.7BN WESTFIELD SHOPPING CENTRE LONDON H20 Car Valeting Centres the leading UK car valeting company, has launched its flagship valet centre at the prestigious £1.7 Billion Westfield London shopping centre in West London. The announcement comes as the Birmingham based company has also unveiled plans for a £5m expansion plan which will be rolled out over the next two years with the launch of a further twenty H20 Car Valeting centres across the UK and creating one hundred and fifty full time jobs at the same time. The company has also been praised and congratulated on its launch and success by LORD MANDELSON’S Department For Business Innovation & Skills. Duncan Buchanan, Private Secretary on behalf of Lord Mandelson said “We are delighted that H20 Car Valeting Centres has been able to expand its business using the Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme. I hope that H20 Car Valeting Centres continues to be a success.” H20 Car Valeting Centres expansion plans are a welcome boost to the current economic climate across the West Midlands, the car industry and its associated service companies, further demonstrating that confidence is slowly returning to the consumer marketplace. The flagship H20 Car Valeting Centre at Westfield London is located within the main car park along with the centre’s valet parking facilities. The service will be offered to all Westfield customers including the centre’s valet park customers. H20 Car Valeting Centres which is based in Birmingham, currently has six centres across the UK, which are all based at prestigious shopping developments. The company’s operations are currently sited at the prestigious Mailbox, Bull Ring and Selfridges shopping centre car parks. The company also has three sites outside of Birmingham at the Touchwood shopping centre in Solihull, the Westfield Merry Hill shopping centre in Dudley and the Westfield Derby shopping centre in Derby. Colin Thomas, Managing Director of H20 Car Valeting Centres said, “We are delighted to be launching our flagship H20 Valeting centre at such a prestigious site as the Westfield shopping centre in London. Its is also our first operation outside of the Midlands and part of a much wider UK expansion plan over the next two years. We now have three of our seven valeting centres located in Westfield shopping centres and it has proved to be a successful formula.” Westfield London which opened last year, is Europe’s largest urban shopping centre which cost a staggering £1.7 billion to build and occupies 1.6million sq ft, the size of twenty premiership football pitches. It currently houses nearly 50 restaurants and in excess of three hundred stores with premium retailers such as De Beers, Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Gucci and Prada. It currently employs 7000 people to serve the 23 million shoppers who have visited the centre in its first year. Paul Buttigieg, General Manager of Westfield London said: “The arrival of H2O to Westfield London has expanded our service offer, enhancing our guests shopping experience and wide range of bespoke services such as valet parking and hands free shopping. We are delighted to support this expanding small business in the UK and look forward to working closely with the H2O team.” H20 is the brainchild of Belfast born entrepreneur Colin Thomas, whose family business Autokleen were responsible for valeting many of the premium brand motor manufacturers new model ranges at various motor show launches around the world, working with such prestigious marques as Lamborghini, Ferrari, Rolls Royce & Bentley, Aston Martin, Mercedes and BMW. Established in 2003, H20 has been built upon 25 years of valeting expertise for all of the major car manufacturers. Based in Birmingham, the company has rapidly established itself as one of the premier companies in its field setting superior standards of quality and excellence. H20 Car Valeting provides a high quality car valet service and finish to showroom standard and has a wide range of customers from business people, to premiership footballers, celebrities, executives and housewives The company currently has six operations in the Midlands at the Mailbox Birmingham City Centre, Selfridges store Birmingham, Bull Ring Centre Birmingham, Touchwood shopping centre Solihull, Merry Hill Shopping Centre Dudley and Westfield Centre Derby. H20 Car Valeting Centres boss Colin Thomas also confirmed that the firm is looking to open a further twenty sites across the country over the next two years with a £5 million pound investment plan and is currently looking at key sites in major cities and towns across the UK including more sites across the West and East Midlands. Colin Thomas added. “There is no denying that the recession has affected everyone, however from our experience, footfall is up at all of our centres along with turnover and profit. People seem to be keeping their cars longer and are investing in a regular car valet to keep their cars in top condition. Next to a house, a car is the second largest single investment for most people and we have noticed a sea change in people’s attitudes towards their cars. We have also noticed an upturn in cars being valeted prior to selling to get the best possible price for their vehicles. I also think our success has been down to the fact that we are also a convenience service for a lot of people who have busy lifestyles. We make the process simple for them, they drop their cars off and then go shopping for a couple of hours and return to a valeted car in showroom condition at a reasonable cost.” The company’s expansion plans have been helped in part by private investment and also help from the small business loan guarantee scheme launched by the Government. The company will also be seeking further funding under the new Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme, where the Government guarantees lending to viable businesses to ensure that they can get the working capital and investment that they need. Colin Thomas fully backs and supports the Government’s initiative. “The Government’s intervention with the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme to grass roots businesses like ourselves has been absolutely crucial to our continued expansion as a business. With this level of support it has allowed us to develop the next stage of our business plan, without it the business would not be able to flourish and grow due to the restrictive lending practices of the High Street banks at present.” ENDS Notes To Editors Colin Thomas Managing Director for H20 Car Valeting Centres is available for interview upon request by emailing gerard@fmguk.com or margaret@fmguk.com Images for H20 Westfield London can also be obtained on request H20 Car Valeting Centres @ Westfield London is now open For further information on H20 Car Valeting www.h20carvaleting.com For all press enquiries please contact Gerard Franklin or Margaret Murray @ Frequency Media 0121 224 7452 gerard@fmguk.com 0121 224 7453 margaret@fmguk.com For press enquiries about Westfield London, please contact Laura Passam @ Westfield 020 7061 1861/ laura.passam@westfield-uk.com